Rubber doll



C. L. BEAL RUBBER DOLL May 22, 1951 3 Sheets-Sheet l Filed Dec. 29,194'? A h ff INVENTOR. 0n/XM ATTRNEYS C. L. BEAL RUBBER DOLL May 22,1951 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Dec. 29, 1947 INVENTOR. M0@ ea/Z g 4,. ll

ATTORNEY May 22, 1951 I c. L. BEAL 2,554,001

RUBBER DOLL Filed Dec. 29, 194'?v s sheets-sheet s IN V EN TOR.

ATTORN EYS Patented May 22, 1951A UNITE STATES Aram orsi-cs RUBBER DOLLCarlL. Beal, Garden City, N. Y., assignor to Ideal Latex Corporation,Hollis, ,N. Y., a corporation of New York 3 Claims.

My invention relates to a new and improved doll.

The principal object of my invention is to provide a doll which has ahollow and resilient and bendable body, and which is provided with aninternal hollow and resilient and bendable insert, in order to eliminatethe necessity' of using stuffing material such as cotton, kapok andother stuing materials, save that such stuiiing materials may optionallybe used in parts of the legs and arms of the doll.

It has heretofore beenl well known to provide dolls with bodies whichare made of exible and resilient material, such as vulcanized rubber.Such bodies have convex or protruding portions, as at the stomachportion of the body. When thevr heads' of` such dolls are made' offlex.- ible and easily bendable material, such heads are also providedwith `convex or protruding portions, as at the cheeks of the head.

If such doll bodies and heads are hollow and they are squeezed inwardlyat their protruding portions, such protruding portions permanentlycollapse. It Yhas therefore been found necessary to use stuingmaterials. The use of' such stung materials increases the weight of thedoll and its cost of manufacture, andsuch stuffing materialsI are oftenobjectionable because they absorb moisture.

According to my invention, I provide the hollow and iiexible andresilient unstufed body of the doll with a flexible and resilient andunstuied insert. I also reinforce said insert by means of one or moreinternal reinforcing ribs which are bendable and resilient.

Further objects and advantages of my invention are stated in the annexeddescription and drawings which illustrate a preferred embodimentthereof.

Fig. 1 is a front elevation, partially in Vertical section, showing thebody of the doll and a part of its head.

Fig. 2 is a transverse longitudinal section, partially in sideelevation, of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a front elevation of the body-portion insert.

Fig. 4 is a side elevation of Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is a side elevation, partially in vertical section, of thereinforcing head insert.

Fig. 6 is a rear elevation of the body-portion insert.

Fig. 7 is a section along the line T-l Aof Fig. 6.

Fig. 8 is a section along the line .8-8 oflFig. 1.

The drawings are substantially to scale and reference is made thereto aspart of the disclon Sure.

The outer, hollow doll-body il! is made of any suitable flexible andresilient material, such'y as vulcanized rubber or a suitable flexibleand resilient plastic or the like. Said doll-body Ill is provided with ahollow body portion I I, hollow arms I2, and hollow legs I3. doll-bodyI@ is provided with a neck N.

Said body portion II has a convex front wall. This doll-body I ti iseasily bendable, so that the inner face of any wall part thereof'cany besqueezed inwardly to contact with the inner face of the opposed wallpart. This applies especially to the front and rear walls of saidbodyportion II and the side walls thereof. If the body-portion II isthus squeezed inwardly to a small extent, it has suiiicient resilienceto return said body-portion II to the selected normal shape shown in thedrawings. However, if the convex front wall of said body-portion II issqueezed too far, said convex iront wall remains collapsed.

The body portion II is preferably integral with arms I2 and legs I3.Such a doll-body lil can be made by dipping a form into latex, forming anlm of latex and vulcanizing said iilrnk the inner face of its rearwall, and the same applies to other opposed Wall-portions of insert I4.rihis insert Iii has a convex front wall.v If not for the internalbendable and resilient reinforcing ribs later described, excessivesqueezing of insert Iii would cause it also to remain collapsed,especially at its convex wall. By means of said reinforcing ribs, suchcollapse is prevented, and the resilience oi insert I4 is suiiicient toreturn it to the selected normal shape.

The insert is has a body Iii, a shoulder portion S, a throat portion Na,and leg extensions Il which are closed at their bottom ends. These partsare preferably integral with each other, and said insert Iii can be madeby dipping and vulcanizing as above mentioned. The insert I4 is providedwith a series of internal and integrai ribs at the respectivelongitudinal lines. said ribs being designated as |511.. Each saidinternal rib is aligned with an outer longitudinal recess in therespective wall of said bodyportion insert I4.

At its top, said The dipping form which is used for making insert I4 mayhave a series of recesses which correspond to said internal ribs and tosaid outer recesses of insert I4. The invention is not limited to anyrespective method or device for making the outer hollow body I or theinsert I4, although dipping is preferred.

As shown in Fig. 3, the front wall of the body I6 of the insert I4 isprovided with three longitudinal or vertical ribs Ia, which are locatedbetween the shoulder portion S and the crotchportion of the insert I4.At its front, each leg extension II' of the insert I4 is provided withtwo longitudinal ribs I5a, as shown in Fig. 8.

As shown in Fig. 4, each side wall of the body I6 of the insert I4 isprovided with a single side longitudinal rib I5a, which extends into therespective leg extension I7.

As also shown in Fig. 4 and Fig. 8, the side -rib I5a of each leg memberIl is integral with the respective side rib Ia of the body I6.

As shown in Fig. 6, the rear wall of the body I6 of the insert I4 isprovided with three vertical or longitudinal ribs Ia.. Each rearvertical or longitudinal rib I 5a is transversely alined with arespective front vertical rib Ia. As also shown in Fig. 6, the medianrib I5@ of the rear wall of the body I6 extends substantially to thecrotch-portion of the insert I4. At its rear, each leg member I'I isprovided with a rib I5a, as shown in Fig. 8.

At its top, the rear rib ISU. of each leg extension II is integral withthe laterally outer rear ribs IEd, and extensions of the rear ribs ofsaid leg extensions are integral with the median rib of the rear wall ofbody I6, between the top and bottom o said median rear rib.

Dut to its flexibility, the insert I4 can be easily inserted into thenished outer body III of the doll, through the neck portion N of theouter body I0. When assembled, the neck Na of the insert I4 thenoptionally ts snugly and frictionally within the neck N of the outerbody IIJ, in order to retain insert I4 in assembled position. As shownin Fig. 2, the crotch-portion of the assembled insert I4 interfits withand abuts the crotch-portion of the outer doll-body I0. The legextensions I7 of the insert I4 optionally t snugly and frictionallywithin the upper parts of the leg members I 3. The lower parts of theleg members I3 are optionally filled with stuffing I8. The invention isnot restricted to any respective length of the leg extensions I'I.

In this embodiment, the insert I4 does not have any arm portions, andthe arms I2 of the 'outer body I are therefore optionally iilled withstuffing I8.

As also shown in Fig. 2, the convex front wall of the body I6 of theinsert il is spaced inwardly from the convex front wall of thebody-portion II of the outer doll-body III. Similarly, the rear wall ofthe body I6 of the insert I4 is spaced inwardly from the rear wall ofthe body-portion I I of the outer doll-body lil.

As shown in Fig. 2, a part of each side wall of the body IS of insert I4optionally abuts a part of the side wall of the body II of the outerdoll-body I8. This area of contact may be made as large as desired, andthe stuffing I8 in the arms I2 may extend up to the side walls of thebody I6 of the insert I4.

By means of this construction, if the stomach portion of the outerdoll-body It is pressed slightly inwardly, the body I6 of the insert I4is not flexed, so that the doll-body Iii can be easily squeezed like anordinary unstuffed doll within a selected limited rang-e. If the outerdoll-body Iii is squeezed beyond this range, it is reinforced by theflexible and resilient insert I4, thus preventing collapse of the outerdoll-body II), especially at its convex part or parts, which otherwisewould be caused by excessive squeezing. Due to the internal ribreinforcement of the insert I4, said insert I4 cannot be permanentlycollapsed even if the front and rear walls of its body It are pressedinto contact with each other. Similarly, the leg portions II cannot bepermanently collapsed, due to the improved reinforcing rib construction.

It is advantageous to provide an insert, in order to make a doll body ofthe usual smooth outer shape, but it is within the scope of my inventionto apply the improved rib construction to any part of a hollow dollbody. Thus, the outer hollow doll-body It can be mol-ded or dipped orotherwise made, so as to provide the improved internal and resilient ribconstruction, without departing from the scope of the invention.

The bendable and resilient and hollow reinforcing head-insert I9 can beprovided with a series of internal and resilient ribs 2|, which have thesame function and action as the ribs ida. This hollow head-insert I9 canbe inserted into a hollow head which is made of bendable and resilientvulcanized rubber or other suitable material.

If desired, the member I9 can be the head portion of the doll. Thismember I9 has a bottom neck portion which ts frictionally upon the neckportion N of the outer body IU. The neck portions of the respectivemembers may be optionally permanently connected to each other, as bymeans of adhesive or the like.

Depending upon the size of the doll, the number of ribs in the frontwall and in the rear wall of the body I6 of the insert I4 can be varied,and I do not limit the invention to any specic number of ribs or to thelocation of the ribs shown in the drawing.

As shown in Fig. 8, the internal wall of leg I3 has internal projectionswhich intert with the outer recesses of insert I4.

While I have shown a preferred embodiment of my invention, it is clearthat numerous changes, additions and omissions can be made withoutdeparting from its scope.

I claim:

1. A doll comprising a hollow and bendable and resilient and unstuffedouter body having a normal selected unsqueezed shape and beingdeformable from said unsqueezed shape by lateral pressure thereon, meansfor yieldingly retaining said outer body in said selected shape in theabsence of lateral pressure thereon, said ro- 'taining means comprisinga hollow and bendable and resilient and unstuifed reinforcing sertlocated in said body and having a normal selected unsqueezed shape, saidinsert being adapted to be deformed to a squeezed shape by lateralpressure thereon, said insert having a resilient and bendable wall whichhas internal and longitudinal resilient stiffening ribs which are spacedfrom each other, said ribs being of suilicient length and sufcientlyclose to each other and of sufficient resilience in conjunction with theresilience of said insert wall to return said insert from its squeezedshape to its unsqueezed shape when lateral pressure is remove"1therefrom, said insert wall having insucien't resilience to return itfrom said squeezed shape to said unsqueezed shape in the absence of saidribs.

2. A doll in accordance with claim 1, in which said outer body has abottom Wall and side Walls and a front convex wall and a rear Wall, saidinsert body having a bottom wall which abuts the bottom wall of saidouter body, said insert body and said outer body having respectiveintertting throat portions, said insert body having front and rear Wallswhich are spaced internally from the front and rear Walls of said outerbody, said outer body and said insert being sufciently bendable underapplied pressure to contact the inner faces of the front and rear wallsof said insert.

3. A doll comprising a hollow and bendable and resilient and unstuffedouter body having a normal selected unsqueezed shape and beingdeformable from said unsqueezed shape by lateral pressure thereon, meansfor yieldably retaining said outer body in said selected shape in theabsence of pressure thereon, said retaining means comprising a hollowand bendable and resilient and unstuied reinforcing insert located insaid body and having a normal selected unsqueezed shape, said insertbeing adapted to be deformed to a squeezed shape by pressure thereon,said insert having internal resilient stifening ribs, means forresiliently maintaining said ribs in spaced relationship, said ribsbeing of sufficient size and suiiciently close to each other, and ofsuicient resilience in conjunction with the resilience of saidmaintaining means to return said insert from its squeezed shape to itsunsqueezed shape When pressure is removed therefrom, said insert havinginsuicient resilience to return said insert from said squeezed shape tosaid unsqueezed shape in the absence of said ribs.

CARL L. BEAL.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the :tile ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,027,225 Gill Jan. '7, 19362,119,499 Spanel May 31, 1938 2,193,069 Krueger Mar. 12, 1940 FOREIGNPATENTS Number Country Date 8,118 Great Britain Dec. 1, 1915

